Impact of music vs. informative videos on patient anxiety during root canal procedures

Music during root canal treatment and retreatment is more useful in easing patient anxiety as opposed to pre-operative informative videos or no distraction techniques.

The aim of the study was to assess the efficiency of music and informative videos as distraction tools in alleviating patients' anxiety during root canal therapy.

This randomized clinical trial involved 90 patients divided into three groups: those who listened to music during treatment, those who watched a pre-operative video, and a control group who did not use a distraction method. Anxiety and pre-operative pain were measured using the Corah Dental Anxiety Scale and the visual analogue scale (VAS).

Recording of systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, heart rate, and oxygen saturation was done prior to the intervention (T1), following administration of local anesthetics (T2), following extirpation of pulp or root fillings removal (T3), and immediately post rubber dam removal (T4). One-Way ANOVA and post-hoc Bonferroni tests were used to compare mean values among groups, with a P-value of 5% considered significant.

Listening to music markedly reduced systolic blood pressure, heart rate (P < .001), and diastolic blood pressure (P = .003) at T4 when compared to baseline (T1). Both the music group (P < .001) and the informative video group (P = .003) demonstrated considerably lower postoperative VAS pain scores.

Among patients undergoing root canal procedures, those who listened to music reported lower anxiety levels than those who viewed informative videos or had no distractions.